Girl’s agony as stepfather turns to her

By Renson Mnyamwezi

A 13-year-old girl has dropped out of school after her stepfather allegedly impregnated her.Senior Education Officer Beata Mghendi took the Class Six girl from Nyache Primary School in Mwatate District, to Wundanyi Police Station on Tuesday.

The traumatised girl is now eight months pregnant.

This comes at a time when cases of sexual abuse and early marriages are on the rise in Taita-Taveta.

The girl’s maternal grandmother Defroz Mjomba, 76, also accompanied her at the police station where she recorded a statement.

Narrating her ordeal, the girl said her stepfather defiled her repeatedly until April, when she conceived.

Her grandmother said the girl confessed that the man started having sex with the girl when her late mother gave birth.

She said on her daughter’s death she took care of the victim and her two other siblings in Wundanyi division. The grandmother said the suspect had been inviting the girl to his home in Mwatate only to sexually molest her.

Mother’s death

"When my stepfather married my mother he took us to his home in Chawia village where we lived happily until my mother died," the girl said.

She continued: "My father has been warning me not to disclose my sexual relationship with him."

Her grandmother said she only learnt recently as the girl had kept it secret. She urged the Government to take stern action against him.

Local OCPD Herbert Khaemba said police are looking for the suspect. "The suspect should have been arrested by now," he said.

Ms Mghendi decried rampant cases of child abuse and incestuous relations in the area and urged the Government to address the menace.

"It is unfortunate the girl has dropped out of school due to unwanted pregnancy," she said.

She said some cases go unreported citing two others involving two girls aged 15, one of whom gave birth while sitting her KCPE.